Database: Word of the Week

Database. No matter what anyone tells you, a spreadsheet is not a database. Like a replicant in Blade Runner, they may look the same – but they are not.

Databases are repositories to hold data in a structured format, and yes, so are spreadsheets. However, a spreadsheet is not a database. A database has powerful relationships that help keep your data intact, safe and accessible through time and trouble.

There are two major types of databases in the world today: relational and object databases.

Relational databases store your data in a very similar format as a spreadsheet, in rows and columns, but that’s where the similarity ends. Databases have many tables and each table is meant to represent a piece of data in your business. The tables are connected together by rules. The rules are a sort of protection called Referential Integrity (RI). RI keeps your data safe by making sure a related record in one table has an associated record in another. It can also update and delete records automatically if a row in one table is associated with a row in another. Relational databases are constructed using a method called the Normal Forms. There are three popular Normal Forms, and then a bunch that are used sparingly in specific instances.

Object databases store information as a “document” or a hierarchal object. Object databases have been around for a while, but have just recently started gaining momentum. In an object database each entity is held as a separate object and its separate associated properties.

Bottom line, databases are the right way to store data. So the next time a co-worker tries to get you to store your data in a spreadsheet tell them, “Hey, we should talk to a database guru and learn the right way to do this."